How Do You Play With Your Cat?

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madzoya

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Hi KleptoKit

Bruce has us on a schedulle :D.

He's fed wet food when I get home from work at around 7pm and he will demand to be fed again at around 9.30 to 10. Mind you these are very small portions. He has free range of dry food.

There is no going around his schedulle. He will do every mischief possible until it falls on his plate. Believe me he can drive a saint to murder when he wants to.

He has another feeding at 6 am, this one by the automatic feeder so I don't have to get out of bed so soon.

Playtimes are usually after the first night feeding and then again after the second. Bruce will "call" you. If you don't obey instantly he will jump on my husband's desk, because he knows my husband hates that he will go there. He will do it until we play with him. Or he will bites electric cords. Or hang himself in curtains. Or... You get the point.

Bruce will not play if you wish him to. He only plays when he feels like it. Not even his favourite toys will lift him up, if you try to play with him, without him enganging you first.
 

KleptoKit

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Oh my ! You've got a difficult case there lol! Cats are blessings and stubborn mild curses haha
 

sargon

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His body shape is pretty Siamese, so he probably has a lot of super intelligent hyperkitty in him. My Siamese doesn't like treat mazes, and goes for hands when you play with laser pointers, too. One thing she likes are window sill cat hammocks. They add vertical space and are great for sunning. I stick a Cat dancer compleat on the window, so that she can use it from the hammock. If you are able to put a bird feeder outside the window, that's even better (I'm unsure if you are able, as it sounds like you are in an apartment.)
 

maggie101

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My cat Peaches mostly likes it when I throw a toy including stuffed animals and she lands in my piles of shipping trash. Also she likes laser light.They all love wand toys but especially Maggie. I also chase Maggie around. CoCo likes any kind of toy. I feed them 3x a day. They like to play before they eat. They like wand toys that have some thing to grab like a mouse. Don't care for the ones with feathers. CoCo and Peaches like the 3 their ball toy. CoCo is not in the pic. The cat by herself is Josie.
P1000007 (1).JPG
 

danteshuman

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Having survived a half Siamese mix I can tell you what worked for me. I rotate his toys around, giving the toys a time out in catnip for a couple of weeks/rotate his feather wands. I play fetch with him with my hair rubber bands. I play with him as I get sleepy before I fall asleep at night so he will leave his 'brother' alone and let us both sleep. Lastly I let him 'hunt' birds from underneath high hanging bird feeders in my backyard. Since training a cat to stay in the backyard is a pain; I would strongly suggest a kitty harness and taking him for daily walks. My punk calmed down around 7 years old or so; so hang in there. He is well worth it though :)
 

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madzoya

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His body shape is pretty Siamese, so he probably has a lot of super intelligent hyperkitty in him. My Siamese doesn't like treat mazes, and goes for hands when you play with laser pointers, too. One thing she likes are window sill cat hammocks. They add vertical space and are great for sunning. I stick a Cat dancer compleat on the window, so that she can use it from the hammock. If you are able to put a bird feeder outside the window, that's even better (I'm unsure if you are able, as it sounds like you are in an apartment.)
Hi!

Yes, I also suspect he has a lot of Siamese in him, not only because of the bodyshape but temperament and because he is really vocal.

I'm actually thinking on some window shelves, just looking for ones that can sustain his weight(not much now) and energy.

I've tried the bird feeder but my apartment is apparentely too high up and birds won't eat in it.

Thanks for the good tips!
 
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madzoya

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Having survived a half Siamese mix I can tell you what worked for me. I rotate his toys around, giving the toys a time out in catnip for a couple of weeks/rotate his feather wands. I play fetch with him with my hair rubber bands. I play with him as I get sleepy before I fall asleep at night so he will leave his 'brother' alone and let us both sleep. Lastly I let him 'hunt' birds from underneath high hanging bird feeders in my backyard. Since training a cat to stay in the backyard is a pain; I would strongly suggest a kitty harness and taking him for daily walks. My punk calmed down around 7 years old or so; so hang in there. He is well worth it though :)
Hi and thanks!

Rotating toys will also be on my list from now on. Bruce has free hand on all his toys and maybe that doesn't work. He has a box were I put them all and he picks up whatever he wants now. I'll change that.

Catnip is another thing. He gets hyper with it sometimes, other times he will ignore it. I can try putting some in the bag of toys, but depending on his mood, it can have a null effect.

The harness is also something I've considered, but I live in an appartment and our surroundings is full of dog, on and off leash, so not safe to take him. I've wondered if he would like to explore the halls and stairs of my building though...

There is also a neighbour that has an old cat that comes to the hall frequently. They sniff eachother over the door sometimes. Maybe if he has a friend to play on ocasion... But the other cat is old and I don't think he would take Bruce's antics very nicely...
 

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My guys never went for the beta fish but on a cat show I saw a small terrarium with some crickets in it recommended. You might want to try that; preferable somewhere he can sit next to and get a good look at them. Especially if you put a couple of hiding places in it (cut up egg carton?) and a twig or two for them to hide on/jump on.
 
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madzoya

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My guys never went for the beta fish but on a cat show I saw a small terrarium with some crickets in it recommended. You might want to try that; preferable somewhere he can sit next to and get a good look at them. Especially if you put a couple of hiding places in it (cut up egg carton?) and a twig or two for them to hide on/jump on.
Actually, as Bruce loves playing with water, I was also thinking (I think too much sometimes) in somewhat of a water bowl with those fake swimming fish one them. This would go on the bathtub, so he wouldn't spreadwater all over the house... Maybe he would have fun?

Crickets make my skin kind of crawl... :crazy:
 

sargon

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It has been a few years, but my previous cat enjoyed my fish tank, when i had it. She was a DSH, not a Siamese, and while she was perhaps smart enough to give most Siamese a run for their money, she was *MUCH* calmer, so zen fish watching may or may not work with more active cats.
 

danteshuman

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The beta bowl needs a lid. 1 those guys suicide jump out of bowls. 2 Salem (peach) likes to fish the surface with his paw.
 
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madzoya

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Oh, I'd never use live fish! The idea is fake fish (there are some nice ones) that he could "fish" out of the bowl.

A live aquarium would be to tempting for Bruce to figure out how to open and catch the poor little mites.
 

Letta

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Hi,
Your Bruce sounds like a true hyper cat, truly wonderful and truly annoying in the same time. I myself have one of those they are the best and the worst.
So to answer your original question we play a lot of everything. She would get tired of games very quickly so always do something new. For example on da bird or da mouse kind of toys nothing forbids you from attaching something else: a small stuff animal, a ball, a piece of tissue, a cord, a pen ect.. Changing things kept things interesting for her. I would play a lot of that, or move some new cardboard inside, make holes and change them often, move things around, build new hiding space (like cat tents) and then changing them. She lovs to follow a ball that I would throw but it had to be different ones or different directions ect.
so list of some games I play:
- fishing pole with tons of different things, some noisy(like bell) some not so she would still be interested
- throwing objects, on the floor, or in the air. new things to throw with not the same speed or shape kepts things cool for her. (you can try everything that is cat safe even random objects do sometimes the trick)
-building new structures and going with a string in it
-put things under the carpet to dig out
-throw treats on the floor so she would have to run after it. she was not a fan of dry food but like that she loved it gave her the impression to hunt
-small animals to wrestle with that I would move
-make her smell new things like spices
-ect...

She loves watching TV too so sometimes it is an easy way to distract her, you can try to put different animal shows.

For the hallway I am sure he will love just make sure to give a bit of time to adjust.
You can also pick up stuff on your way home for him to smell like a piece of wood ect...
For the fish in the water mine got interested in it only for a day but that's already not that bad ^^.

Those cats are difficult but also so nice. really for the moment the best thing I found is a lot of play sessions with something new always. Really anything in your house can be fun as long as it is safe don't hesitate to try to throw it and see if his interest is picked or not. Somethings will work some not.
 

ileen

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I also have a small apartment and an active young male cat. I have had success with the wand toys. Luciano came to live with me in December & I think I started with the wand/mouse toy at the end of January. He's gone through at least three mice since then. He may love da bird wand toy more, but he destroyed it from the string. Recently I got a cheap replacement with a wand in two pieces & I've already had to duct tape the wand halves together.
Another thing you may want to try is bubbles. Luciano is fascinated with bubbles. I started about a week ago with them. It was too messy in my hardwood floor apartment, so we go out into the apartment building hallway, which he likes to do anyway & is carpeted. I have even taught him to sit (sort of) by using bubbles. He watches them for a bit and then decides to pounce on some of them. If you can use bubbles from your couch, that would be ideal.
 

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It takes two of us. We play catch with one his toys. Catch turns into "keep away". We do this until we think he's worn out, because, he just.....won't......quit. :lol:
That's just a little romp though. More of a drop in the bucket compared to what he does all by himself though.
Lets get some perspective on this. You hear that 30 minutes or so of play, each day, will wear em' out and make them lots nicer/better/calmer/etc...
SO...knowing my cat's not typical, one would assume an hour or so of play would be good. Even considering that his "play" isn't a few jumps and swatting a feather. No, his play consists of bouncing off the ceiling fan and running across the room as fast as he can a few hundred times.
Should wear him out???
Here's your perspective: I mowed 5 acres the other day, about 4mph, 3ft tall grass, 90 degree sunny, tractor. The little 12lb fuzzy terrier mutt ran circles around the tractor the WHOLE DAY. I say ran, but, it was more of bouncing thing because the grass was so high. I mean, he never stopped.
I'm certain he was worn out, but, he was still going at the end of the day.
And we think 30 minutes of play is going to wear out a cat????
 

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Felix doesn't care too much about toys. Every time I buy them, they go missing within a couple of hours and then I never see them again. For years. No joke. I found some the other day that I haven't seen in 5 years.

Anyway, Felix loves contact play which is basically me chasing him or him chasing me. He likes to grab by pants and feet or my shirt and pull me or bite me. We do this for a while until he gets tired. Or we play hide and seek. For real. He's quite good at this. He will run away from me and hide somewhere in the house. When I find him, he runs away and we do it all over again.

Sometimes he'll tackle me to the ground and bite what he can. Or he'll sit on my foot and press his heels into my foot before grabbing it. It's really funny. He pretends like my foot is not under his butt. He looks around like he's clueless before turning around and grabbing me.

I guess it really depends on your cat's personality. Felix has always been with people so he prefers to play with family. String and those kind of things can only occupy him for so long.
 

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Most of mine truly enjoy wand toys, and I've created an arsenal of them by simply adding various toy mice and birds to nylon cord and catfishing poles. Clawed-Ya is a ball-chaser, and will play for hours if you've the time, and Friday loves LeatherMouse (sort of a Frankenstein Rodent I sewed from soft bookbinder's calf). Oz will ride a Roomba happily, tilting at other cats when it comes close enough to them, like a furry little Don Quixote. I used to play chess with my Snowshoe Siamese, but since she read Irving Chernev's Capablanca's Best Chess Endings, I can't beat her any longer.
.
 
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